Devaux Holding a Strong Hand on Saturday’s Road to the Derby Card

By Joe Kristufek —-

Devaux Holding a Strong Hand on Saturday’s Road to the Derby Card

Barn sending out a pair of exciting contenders in both the Silverbulletday & Lecomte (G3)

New Orleans, La (Jan. 16, 2026) – Trainer Cherie DeVaux has a pair of live horses in both tomorrow’s Road to the Derby Stakes for 3-year-olds, the Silverbulletday for the fillies and the Lecomte (G3). Those races will offer 20-10-6-4-2 points on the road to the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby respectively. We caught up with Cherie outside barn 30 to discuss her contenders.

Silverbulletday – Race 10

#1 Atropa (J. Ortiz, 2-1 ML Favorite) – narrowly beaten by Bella Ballerina in the Golden Rod (G2) last time out at Churchill Downs.

Question: “She seems to me like she’s still learning and still developing. Is that fair to say that her best, which is what you want when looking at the big picture, is still in front of her?”

Answer: “100%. I think her best is also going to be a bit farther than what she’s been running, so, you know, we’re excited about the future. She’s been training really well. She’s a filly that’s been there ever since she’s came in, which is why I was a bit disappointed in her showing her first out (6th in the slop sprinting on July 12 at Saratoga). I knew she wasn’t going to be at her best in shorter races, but she didn’t really seem to do any running.”

Question: “In her second start at Keeneland she won by 10 lengths but she kind of spooked a little bit near the finish line, and then last out, she just seemed like she switched leads a little bit late. Seems like she’s still learning to put it all together. Do you think there’s a good chance she’ll put it all together on Saturday?”

Answer: “It’s in her. It’s hard to say, because when she trains, she’s so straightforward and always has been. What you’re seeing on the track is in a racing situation, which is a lot different than training. She’s definitely a filly that has a lot of potential. It’s in there. She’s shown us that. It’s just a natural progression of maturity in any young horse. There’s still going to be learning and growing, maturing physically and mentally. I expect her to be a little more forward and from the rail she’s going to have to be. She’s going to have to overcome is having some dirt in her face and she’s not a big fan of it. I’m confident Jose will work out a trip. It’s a shorter field, so hopefully he can get some outside position. Hold your position in the first turn and then try to her out.”

#3 White Smoke (Prat, 9-2 ML) – Despite a very slow start, she stormed home from last to first to win her career debut sprinting on the Road to the Derby Kickoff Day undercard.

Question: “White Smoke broke awkwardly from the gate, made up a ton of ground, and won her sprint debut and now the stretch out. Your barn has really good stats sprint to route. Was that the plan all along with her?”

Answer: “She was entered to run on the closing Saturday of the Fall Meet at Churchill. That race was seven furlongs which would have been a great starting point because I felt like she needed a little bit more distance. Unfortunately, she got really unsettled in the paddock and flipped over and had to be scratched. That seems to be in her rear-view, knock-on wood. She’s never really been a bad actor. We train mostly at Keeneland and send them over the week of the race, but it’s still a new environment for young horses, so I think that definitely had something to do with it. She works really well, but she just doesn’t have that early speed in the morning either. At Fair Grounds if we were going to run her in a one-turn race first time, it had to be at six furlongs. Horses like her and Golden Tempo (Lecomte) who you believe to be true route horses, when they get it done going six (furlongs) it’s a pleasant surprise because it’s not what seems to be in their wheelhouse.”

Lecomte (G3) – Race 13
#5 Golden Tempo (Jose Ortiz, 8-1 ML) — Despite a very slow start, he stormed home from last to first to win his career debut sprinting on the Road to the Derby Kickoff Day undercard & #7 Mesquite (Prat, 8-1 ML) – Followed up a sixth place finish sprinting a Keeneland with a two-turn maiden breaker at Churchill, a race in which he overcame a compromised start and a green stretch run.

Question: “Mirror performances between White Smoke and Golden Tempo in their career debuts – both broke slowly, stormed down the middle of the track to win a sprint. What’s the challenge of stretching them out first time for the horses, physically and mentally?”

Answer: “At this stage in the game, most of the horses they’re running against are lightly raced, so you just have to hope in your mind that they’re going to take another step forward from breaking their maiden to stretching out to two turns. Sometimes it throws them for a loop. Mesquite was void of early speed going short but he ran professionally first time out. In his second start he spotted the field 10 lengths. You just hope that they build and move forward. I think around two turns Golden Tempo will show more speed, just naturally. He broke slowly first time out, but that’s just what unraced or lightly raced two-year-olds do sometimes. We break them in company and we do everything we can. It’s just not the dame as a race day situation. So when they’re sitting in the gate and don’t know what’s going on around them, they can be easily startled. With Golden Tempo, it’s not a bad habit. He broke really well from the gate every time in the morning. I’m confident he will learn from it.”

Question: “Based on the fact that Mesquite has had two races including one around two turn and Golden Tempo has had only the one sprint, does that put him in a better position to succeed on Saturday?”

Answer: “It is the very early stages of their careers, but Golden Tempo just seems to be a little bit more mentally mature than Mesquite is at this point. Mesquite’s proven at two turns. and his win was quite impressive. On paper it might not look that great but if you watch the replay, you’ll see that he tried to do everything wrong and still won the race. That would be my only negative on him is that he has to put it all together. You can get away with that a lot easier in a maiden race but when you’re moving forward and we’re putting them into these higher-level races, you have a lot less room for error. They are too different horses. Golden Tempo is quick and sharp in the morning and I expect him to be the more forward of the two on Saturday. Mesquite kind of just grinds and goes along. Mesquite improves and doesn’t give himself too much to do because if you’re compromised at the start of the races, you’re going to have to be more dependent on what unfolds in front of you. I would love to see him put himself in a better tactical spot than he did last time.”

Question: “You’re riding Jose Ortiz, the top rider at Fair Grounds, and Flavien Prat, who ships in for the day. How was it determined who rode who?”

Answer: “The morning after Road to the Derby Day, I saw that we might have an issue in some of the big races moving forward. I also have had these maidens lined up and pointing to certain races each month. They’re all nice, well meant horses so you want to make sure that you have commitment from a couple of the top riders. I reached out to Brad Pegram about having Flavien (Prat) come in, not only for this Saturday but the other big Fair Grounds race days the remainder of the meet. I tried to leave the decision on who rode who up to Jose and he didn’t want to make the decision. He felt like it was splitting hairs, so we just named him on the horse he had ridden most recently (Golden Tempo). I’m excited for both horses and think they have an equally fair shot of running a great race and even winning.

In Closing: “You’ve won 22 graded stakes races and have a Breeders’ Cup win all since 2021, but you have yet to start a horse in the Kentucky Oaks or the Derby. Seems like both races are very much on your radar this spring.”

Answer: “We have a lot of nice three-year-olds in the barn at different stages of development, colts and fillies. If we don’t have a strong contender in both the Oaks and the Derby, I’ll be a little disappointed.”
-30-
About Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, one of the nation’s oldest racetracks, has been in operation since 1872. Located in New Orleans, La, Fair Grounds, which is owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN), also operates a slot-machine gaming facility and 13 off-track betting parlors throughout Southeast Louisiana. The 154th Thoroughbred Racing Season–highlighted by the 113th running of the Louisiana Derby–will run from Nov. 20, 2025 through March 22, 2026. More information is available online at www.fgno.com.